Rudolf Nureyev defects to the West in 1961 - Rudolf Nureyev Foundation "I want to stay and to be free." Rudolf Nureyev at Le Bourget Airport Le Jeune -homme et la Mort by Roland Petit with Zizi Jeanmaire When the company went to Paris in 1961 for its first foreign tour, Rudolf could hardly be left behind but a close watch was kept on him. Still he did not conform. Instead of returning obediently to the hotel each night in the coaches provided, he went out with French dancers and other locals. One or two other Kirov dancers did likewise but Nureyev was the one who caused most alarm to the political agents running the tour. When everyone arrived at the airport to move on for performances in London he was instead given a ticket to Moscow and told he was needed for a gala. Disbelieving assurances that he would rejoin the company in London, he was sure he would never again be allowed out of Russia and would face relegation back home. He decided to seek asylum in the west and managed to get word to friends who had come to see him off.

They told the French police, who explained that Nureyev must personally approach them; he did this and was granted permission to stay in France. Russian officials thereafter did all they could to disparage the "defector", and in absence he was sentenced to prison. For many years all his travelling had to be done on temporary documents but eventually he was given Austrian citizenship. Having had the most spectacular personal success of the Kirov's Paris season, he was immediately offered an engagement with the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas, but stayed only a few months, violently disliking their production of The Sleeping Beauty. He did however admire their ballerina Rosella Hightower, and worked with her on his first ballet production, the Nutcracker pas de deux. He next met (offstage) another ballerina, the American Maria Tallchief, and introduced himself. Rudolf meets Erik Bruhn. Maria Tallchief was about to dance in Copenhagen with Erik Bruhn, whom Nureyev, on the strength of an amateur film, admired more than any other male dancer. Thus the two men met and fell in love, maintaining their close feelings, despite quarrels and separations, until Bruhn's death.

Both of them perfectionists, they did their daily class together and Nureyev began assimilating western style to add to what he had learned in Russia. Bruhn's attitude to his roles confirmed the belief Nureyev had already developed that a man should be allowed to dance as expressively as a woman; the effect of this was exemplified when they each added a soft, andante solo to their later productions of Swan Lake, introducing a new gentle style of male dancing later taken up by other choreographers, even as illustrious as Frederick Ashton. Russian ballet star Nureyev defects - Jun 16, 1961 - HISTORY.com Russian ballet star Nureyev defects Share this: Russian ballet star Nureyev defects Author Russian ballet star Nureyev defects URL Publisher A+E Networks Rudolf Nureyev, the young star of the Soviet Union’s Kirov Opera Ballet Company, defects during a stopover in Paris. The high-profile defection was a blow to Soviet prestige and generated international interest.

Nureyev became a star of Russian ballet in 1958 when, at barely 20 years old, he was made one of the Kirov Opera Ballet’s featured soloists. The Kirov and the Bolshoi ballet companies were two of the jewels of Soviet cultural diplomacy, and their performances earned worldwide accolades and respect for the arts in the USSR. In June 1961, the Kirov Company finished a run in Paris. On June 16, just as the company was preparing to board a flight home, Nureyev broke from the group and insisted that he was staying in France. According to eyewitnesses, other members of the troupe pleaded with Nureyev to rejoin them and return to the Soviet Union. The dancer refused and threw himself into the arms of airport security people, screaming, “Protect me!” The security officials took Nureyev into custody, whereupon he asked for political asylum. The Kirov Company fretted over the loss of its star and Soviet security guards fumed over Nureyev’s defection. Eventually, the troupe flew back to Russia without the dancer.

Nureyev’s high-profile defection was a double blow to the Soviet Union. First, it detracted from the quality of the Kirov Company, which had featured the young prodigy prominently in its performances throughout the world. Second, it severely damaged Soviet propaganda that touted the political and artistic freedom in Russia. Nureyev continued with his career after his defection. During the next 30 years he danced with England’s Royal Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre. He was in great demand as both a dancer and choreographer, and even made a few films (including a disastrous turn as the silent film star Rudolf Valentino). In 1983, he took over as ballet director of the Paris Opera. In 1989, he briefly returned to the Soviet Union to perform. He died in Paris in 1993.

Related Videos Rudolf Nureyev | Dance Art Gallery Dance Art Gallery Art, Dancewear, Resources and Videos of DANCE Search for: Born: Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev March 17, 1938 near Irkutsk, Siberia, USSR Died: 6 January 1993 (1993-01-06) (aged 54) Levallois-Perret, France Cause of death: AIDS Alma mater: Kirov Ballet School Occupation: ballet dancer, choreographer Partner: Erik Bruhn (1961–1986) Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev (17 March 1938 – 6 January 1993) was a Russian dancer, considered one of the most celebrated ballet dancers of the 20th century. Nureyev’s artistic skills explored expressive areas of the dance, providing a new role to the male ballet dancer who once served only as support to the women.

‘Technique is what you fall back on when you run out of inspiration’, Rudolf Nureyev In 1961 he defected to the West, despite KGB efforts to stop him. According to KGB archives studied by Peter Watson, Nikita Khrushchev personally signed an order to have Nureyev killed. Early life and career at the Kirov Nureyev was born on a Trans-Siberian train near Irkutsk, Siberia, Soviet Union, while his mother Feride was travelling to Vladivostok, where his father Hamit, a Red Army political commissar, was stationed. He was raised as the only son in a Bashkir-Tatar family in a village near Ufa in Soviet republic of Bashkortostan. When his mother took him and his sisters into a performance of the ballet “Song of the Cranes”, he fell in love with dance. As a child he was encouraged to dance in Bashkir folk performances and his precocity was soon noticed by teachers who encouraged him to train in Leningrad. On a tour stop in Moscow with a local ballet company, Nureyev auditioned for the Bolshoi ballet company and was accepted.

However, he felt that the Kirov Ballet school was the best, so he left the local touring company and bought a ticket to Leningrad. Owing to the disruption of Soviet cultural life caused by World War II, Nureyev was unable to enroll in a major ballet school until 1955, aged 17, when he was accepted by the Leningrad Choreographic School, the associate school of the Kirov Ballet. Alexander Ivanovich Pushkin took an interest in him professionally and allowed Nureyev to live with him and his wife. Upon graduation, Nureyev continued with the Kirov and went on to become a soloist. In his three years with the Kirov, he danced fifteen rôles, usually opposite his partner, Ninel Kurgapkina, with whom he was very well paired, although she was almost a decade older than he was. He became one of the Soviet Union’s best-known dancers and was allowed to travel outside the Soviet Union, when he danced in Vienna at the International Youth Festival. Not long after, he was told by the Ministry of Culture that he would not be allowed to go abroad again.

Defection Rudolf Nureyev at his defection from Soviet Union 1961. By the late 1950s, Nureyev had become a sensation in the Soviet Union. Yet, as the Kirov ballet was preparing to go on a European tour, Nureyev’s rebellious character and a non-conformist attitude quickly made him the unlikely candidate for a trip to the West, which was to be of crucial importance to the Soviet government’s ambitions to portray their cultural supremacy. However, in 1961, the Kirov’s leading male dancer, Konstantin Sergeyev, was injured, and Nureyev was chosen to replace him on the Kirov’s European tour. In Paris, his performances electrified audiences and critics. Oliver Merlin in Le Monde wrote, “I will never forget his arrival running across the back of the stage, and his catlike way of holding himself opposite the ramp. He wore a white sash over an ultramarine costume, had large wild eyes and hollow cheeks under a turban topped with a spray of feathers, bulging thighs, immaculate tights.

This was already Nijinsky in Firebird.” Nureyev was seen to have broken the rules about mingling with foreigners, which alarmed the Kirov’s management. The KGB wanted to send him back to the Soviet Union immediately. As a subterfuge, they told him that he would not travel with the company to London to continue the tour because he was needed to dance at a special performance in the Kremlin. When that didn’t work they told him his mother had fallen severely ill and he needed to come home immediately to see her. He knew these were lies and believed that if he returned to the USSR, he would likely be imprisoned, because KGB agents had been investigating him. On 16 June 1961 at the Le Bourget Airport in Paris, Rudolf Nureyev defected with the help of French police and a Parisian socialite friend – Clara Saint. Within a week, he was signed up by the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas and was performing The Sleeping Beauty with Nina Vyroubova.

On a tour of Denmark he met Erik Bruhn, soloist at the Royal Danish Ballet who became his lover, his closest friend and his protector until Bruhn’s death in 1986. Although he petitioned the Soviet government for many years to be allowed to visit his mother, he was not allowed to do so until 1987, when his mother was dying and Mikhail Gorbachev consented to the visit. In 1989, he was invited to dance the role of James in La Sylphide with the Kirov Ballet at the Maryinsky theatre in Leningrad. The visit gave him the opportunity to see many of the teachers and colleagues he had not seen since he defected. Royal Ballet Nureyev’s first appearance in Britain was at a ballet matinée organised by The Royal Ballet’s Prima Ballerina Dame Margot Fonteyn. The event was held in aid of the Royal Academy of Dance, a classical ballet teaching organisation of which she was President. He danced Poeme Tragique, a solo choreographed by Frederick Ashton, and the Black Swan pas de deux from Swan Lake.

Dame Ninette de Valois offered him a contract to join The Royal Ballet as Principal Dancer. His first appearance with the company was partnering Margot Fonteyn in Giselle on 21 February 1962. Fonteyn and Nureyev would go on to form a partnership. Nureyev stayed with the Royal Ballet until 1970, when he was promoted to Principal Guest Artist, enabling him to concentrate on his increasing schedule of international guest appearances and tours. He continued to perform regularly with The Royal Ballet until committing his future to the Paris Opera Ballet in the 1980s. Nureyev and his dance partnerships Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn in the Grand adage from Nureyev’s staging of the Petipa/Minkus The Kingdom of the Shades for the Royal Ballet, London, 1963. Rudolph Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn became longstanding dance partners and continued to dance together for many years after Nureyev’s departure from the Royal Ballet.

Their last performance together was in Baroque Pas de Trois on 16 September 1988 when Fonteyn was 69, Nureyev was aged 50, with Carla Fracci also starring, aged 52. Nureyev once said of Fonteyn that they danced with “one body, one soul”. Together Nureyev and Fonteyn premiered Sir Frederick Ashton’s ballet Marguerite and Armand, a ballet danced to Liszt’s Piano Sonata in B minor, which became their signature piece. Kenneth MacMillan was forced to allow them to premiere his Romeo and Juliet, which was intended for two other dancers, Lynn Seymour and Christopher Gable. [15] Films exist of their partnership in Les Sylphides, Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, and other roles. Nureyev danced with many of the top ballerinas of his time. He celebrated another long-time partnership with Prima Ballerina Assoluta Eva Evdokimova. They first appeared together in La Sylphide (1971) and in 1975 he selected her as his Sleeping Beauty in his staging for London Festival Ballet.

Evdokimova remained his partner of choice for many guest appearances and tours across the globe with “Nureyev and Friends” for more than fifteen years. Film and television In 1962, Nureyev made his screen debut in a film version of Les Sylphides. In 1977 he played Rudolph Valentino in Ken Russell’s Valentino, but he decided against an acting career in order to branch into modern dance with the Dutch National Ballet in 1968. In 1972, Sir Robert Helpmann invited him to tour Australia with his own production of Don Quixote, his directorial debut. The film version (1973) features Nureyev, Lucette Aldous as Kitri, Helpmann as Don Quixote and artists of the Australian Ballet. During the 1970s, Nureyev appeared in several films and toured through the United States in a revival of the Broadway musical The King and I.

He was one of the guest stars on the television series The Muppet Show where he danced in a parody called Swine Lake, sang Baby, It’s Cold Outside in a sauna duet with Miss Piggy, and sang and tap-danced in the show’s finale, Top Hat, White Tie and Tails. In 1981, Thames Television filmed a documentary with Nureyev, including a candid interview, as well as access to him in the studio, rehearsing. In 1982, he became a naturalized Austrian. In 1983 he had a non-dancing role in the movie Exposed with Nastassja Kinski. Director of the Paris Opera Ballet In 1983, he was appointed director of the Paris Opera Ballet, where, as well as directing, he continued to dance and to promote younger dancers. He remained there as a dancer and chief of choreography until 1989. Among the dancers he groomed were Sylvie Guillem, Isabelle Guerin, Manuel Legris, Elisabeth Maurin, Élisabeth Platel, Charles Jude, and Monique Loudieres.

Despite advancing illness towards the end of his tenure, he worked tirelessly, staging new versions of old standbys and commissioning some of the most ground-breaking choreographic works of his time. His own Romeo and Juliet was a popular success. Personality Nureyev did not have much patience with rules, limitations and hierarchical order and at times a volatile temper. His impatience mainly showed itself when the failings of others interfered with his work. Most ballerinas with whom he danced, including Antoinette Sibley, Gelsey Kirkland and Annette Page paid tribute to him as a considerate partner. He socialized with Gore Vidal, Freddie Mercury, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Mick Jagger, Liza Minnelli, Andy Warhol and Talitha Pol, but developed an intolerance for celebrities. He kept up old friendships in and out of the ballet world for decades, and was considered to be a loyal and generous friend. He was known as extremely generous to many ballerinas, who credit him with helping them during difficult times.

In particular, the Canadian ballerina Lynn Seymour – distressed when she was denied the opportunity to premiere Macmillan’s Romeo and Juliet – says that Nureyev often found projects for her even when she was suffering from weight issues and depression and thus had trouble finding roles. By the end of the 1970s, when he was in his 40s, he continued to tackle big classical roles. However by the late 1980s his diminished capabilities disappointed his admirers who had fond memories of his outstanding prowess and skill. His artistic directorshop of the Paris Opera Ballet was a great success lifting the company out of a dark period. His Sleeping Beauty remains in the repertoire and was revived and filmed with his protege Manuel Legris in the lead. When he was sick towards the end of his life, he worked on a final production of La Bayadère which closely follows the Kirov Ballet version he danced as a young man. Personal life Nureyev met Erik Bruhn, the celebrated Danish dancer, after Nureyev defected to the West in 1961.

Nureyev was a great admirer of Bruhn, having seen filmed performances of the Dane on tour in Russia with the American Ballet Theatre, although stylistically the two dancers were very different. Bruhn and Nureyev became a couple and the two remained together for 25 years, until Bruhn’s death in 1986. Final years When AIDS appeared in France around 1982, Nureyev took little notice. The dancer tested positive for HIV in 1984, but for several years he simply denied that anything was wrong with his health. Nureyev began a marked decline only in the summer of 1991 and entered the final phase of the disease in the spring of 1992.

In March 1992, Rudolf Nureyev, living with advanced AIDS, visited Kazan and appeared as a conductor in front of the audience at Musa Cälil Tatar Academic Opera and Ballet Theater in Kazan, which now presents the Rudolf Nureyev Festival in Tatarstan Returning to Paris, with a high fever, he was admitted to the hospital Notre Dame du Perpétuel Secours in Levallois-Perret, a suburb northwest of Paris, and was operated on for pericarditis, an inflammation of the membranous sac around the heart. At that time, what inspired him to fight his illness was the hope that he could fulfill an invitation to conduct Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet at an American Ballet Theater’s benefit on 6 May 1992 at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. He did so and was elated at the reception. In July 1992, Nureyev showed renewed signs of pericarditis but determined to forswear further treatment.

His last public appearance on 8 October 1992, at the premiere at Palais Garnier of a new production of La Bayadère that he choreographed after Marius Petipa for the Paris Opera Ballet. Nureyev had managed to obtain a photocopy of the original score by Minkus when in Russia in 1989. This meant that the full four acts of the ballet could be performed for the first time in the west since the Russian revolution. The ballet was a personal triumph although the gravity of his condition was evident. The French Culture Minister, Jack Lang, presented him that evening on stage with France’s highest cultural award, the Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Death, funeral and tributes Nureyev's tomb in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois designed by Ezio Frigerio executed in mosaic by Akomena Nureyev re-entered the hospital Notre Dame du Perpétuel Secours in Levallois-Perret on 20 November 1992 and remained there until his death from cardiac complication a few months later, aged 54.

His funeral was held in the marble foyer of the Paris Garnier Opera House. Many paid tributes to his brilliance as a dancer. One such tribute came from Oleg Vinogradov of the Kirov Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia, “What Nureyev did in the west, he could have never have done here.” Nureyev’s grave, at a Russian cemetery in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois near Paris, features a tomb draped in a mosaic of an oriental carpet. Nureyev was an avid collector of beautiful carpets and antique textiles. As his coffin was lowered into the ground, music from the last act of Giselle was played and his ballet shoes were cast into the grave along with white lillies. After so many years of having been denied a place in the Kirov Ballet history, Nureyev’s reputation was restored. His name was reentered in the history of the Kirov and some of his personal effects were placed on display at the theatre museum in St. Petersburg. At the famed Vaganova Academy a rehearsal room was named in his honour.

Influence Nureyev’s influence on the world of ballet changed the perception of male dancers; in his own productions of the classics the male roles received much more choreography. Another important influence was his crossing the borders between classical ballet and modern dance by performing both. Today it is normal for dancers to receive training in both styles, but Nureyev was the originator and excelled in modern and classical dance. He went out of his way to work with modern dance great, Martha Graham, and she created a work specially for him. While Gene Kelly had done much to combine modern and classical styles in film, he came from a more Modern Dance influenced “popular dance” environment, while Nureyev made great strides in gaining acceptance of Modern Dance in the “Classical Ballet” sphere. *from Wikipedia Rudolph Nureyev, Ballet’s “first pop star”, showcased in new de Young show | Richmond District Blog Rudolph Nureyev, Ballet’s “first pop star”, showcased in new de Young show Posted on by Sarah B. “Rare are the dancers who become legends, even rarer are those who become legends in their lifetime.

This was Rudolf Nureyev’s destiny, due to his intelligence, force of character and extraordinary presence.” He knew from the age of 7 that dance was his destiny. And his sheer will, talent and determination drove Nureyev to become what many consider to be the world’s most famous male ballet dancer. Ruldoph Nureyev: A Life in Dance is now open at the de Young Museum, showcasing the dancer’s prolific career through costumes, photos, video excerpts and small scale models. Nureyev began his professional career at 17, when he entered The Kirov School in Leningrad in Russia. His impact was immediately felt, as he brought a new physicality to the stage and unlike his predecessors, took an interest in all aspects of the ballet, including the costumes. By the age of 23, he was a superstar in his own country and when he defected from the Soviet Union during a trip to Paris in 1963, he became a worldwide sensation. What was once Russia’s national treasure was let loose on the Western ballet world to push boundaries and carve a new path for the modern male ballerina.

Nureyev was a perfectionist, and demanded the same focus, drive and dedication from all his collaborators. He had a particular passion for costumes, which he felt should not only be beautiful, but practical and able to keep up with the physical demands of his dancing. He enjoyed the flamboyance and creativity of costume design, resulting in embroidery, jewels and braid which can be seen throughout the exhibition. While well preserved, many of Nureyev’s costumes in the exhibit belie the wear and tear of dozens of performances, where they were pushed to their limits and sweat-stained. The show features Nureyev’s costumes from some of his most famous performances including Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, Sleeping Beauty and many others. Costumes from Romeo and Juliet “Nureyev was extremely precise and vigilant when it came to his own costumes, and he liked to have a qualified person attend the fittings so that he could bombard him with questions and benefit from his eye. He left the costumes for the rest of the dancers up to the designers, the production directors and the costume workshops. But his instructions were to be followed to the letter and his decisions final; no arguments were possible.

If he saw that his indications had not been respected, he was capable of rejecting a whole series of costumes.” – from the Exhibition Catalogue for “Rudolph Nureyev: A Life In Dance”. His love for costumes started as a young boy, when his sister Rosa would bring them home from her dance classes. Nureyev would spread them out on the bed, taking in every detail and nuance. “I was like a drug addict,” he said. His obsession with costume even helped fuel his decision to defect from the USSR in 1963. After modifying his costume for a Paris performance with his Russian ballet company, Nureyev learned a few days later, at the airport, that he would be sent back to Moscow and not continue on with the company – effectively a punishment for the liberties he took with his role. Right then, he demanded political asylum in France. Nureyev went onto become a worldwide celebrity – “dance’s first pop star” as some have called him. He was a regular on the 70’s nightclub scene, and was photographed as often as famous rock stars like Mick Jagger or John Lennon. He even appeared on The Muppet Show in 1977.

But Nureyev was first and foremost about dance, and he demanded absolute respect for it. “You live because you dance, you live as long as you dance” was his lifelong mantra. His career in dance covered all facets of it – choreography, dance, costume design – and included becoming Director of The Paris Opera Ballet in 1983. Nureyev’s innovation resulted in the male ballerina taking on a more prominent role on the professional stage. Traditionally, the ballerina was always at the forefront on stage, but Nureyev’s aggressive strength and attention to visual costuming made the male roles more significant. He had that “it” factor and lit up every stage that he danced across. “Nureyev’s work meant that men’s roles were no longer subservient to women’s. His unique combination of artistry, technical precision, electric stage presence, and musicality thoroughly transformed male dancing in the West,” said Jill D’Alessandro, the de Young’s curator of costume and textile arts. If you have an interest in dance, ballet or just like to gaze on beautifully crafted costumes, don’t miss the Nureyev show at the de Young.

It runs until February 17, and is included in the regular price of admission. Sarah B. Nureyev and the ROH - Rudolf Nureyev Foundation NUREYEV AND THE ROH RUDOLF NUREYEV AT THE ROYAL OPERA HOUSE – a personal memoir, by Sir John Tooley - General Director, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden 1970-1988 An air of excitement and expectancy was felt by all of us who were waiting at Heathrow Airport on that morning in June 1961 to welcome the Kirov Ballet to a season in London at the Royal Opera House. They had just completed a hugely successful few weeks of performances in Paris. The international standing of the company was well known, but there was another dimension to this visit which was not. For some time there had been periodic and patchy news of an exceptionally talented young dancer in Leningrad by the name of Rudolf Nureyev. Once the company was in Paris reliable reports of Nureyev’s talents were readily to be seen and read, rapidly confirming earlier reports of his prowess and consequently making our wish to see him dance more compelling than ever..

However, our eagerness to greet the company was soon to be overturned by unconfirmed news from Paris that Nureyev would not be dancing in London after all and was to return to Moscow. The company eventually arrived in London without Nureyev and in a state of deep bewilderment and sorrow. The dancers were under instructions not to talk to the press, though even if they did there was little reliable news they could tell. Nobody knew any of the facts. Konstantin Sergeyev, the Ballet Master.and his wife and Prima Ballerina Natalia Dudinskaya urged me to talk to them and nobody else. They knew all there was to know, but when engaged in conversation they had nothing to tell. The company managed collectively to overcome the shock of what had happened and began a magnificent season, though sometimes with heavy hearts. Meanwhile, Rudolf Nureyev’s bid for asylum in France had been accepted by the French authorities, but not by the Soviet Government. The latter was soon to name him a traitor. First contact with the Royal Ballet was indirectly through Margot Fonteyn. She was organising her annual charity gala and thought Nureyev’s presence would be something of a coup.

Having sounded out Vera Volkova and others about him she decided to go ahead. Rudolf’s response was typical of much that was to follow as he strove to achieve his aims. He was happy to accept the invitation but he insisted he dance with her. He was deeply upset by her response that this was impossible because of her commitment to another dancer. Not to be outdone, he insisted that a solo ballet should be created for him instead. Sir Frederick Ashton, unhappy at working with a dancer he did not know, reluctantly agreed to create a 10-minute piece. Difficulties were further compounded by Nureyev’s choice of music, Scriabin’s Poeme tragique, not music Ashton would have otherwise considered. The matinee was a success beyond Fonteyn’s dreams, riotous applause at the end and recognition that a supremely gifted dancer had arrived in London. Dame Ninette de Valois was ecstatic. The company needs a virtuoso dancer, she declared, and here we have one who also has taste. The Royal Ballet could not delay in engaging him and offered a contract for Giselle in the following February, with Margot Fonteyn.

Here was this unlikely combination of a prima ballerina assoluta, aged 42, and a Russian dancer aged 23, stepping into what was then the unknown and creating one of the greatest ballet partnerships of all time. From the beginning of rehearsals Nureyev set out his markers. He was totally committed to reform of the 19th century ballet, where, amongst other things, the danseur noble was relegated to a cardboard figure, essentially there to support and show off his ballerina. He was also critical of the amount of mime still being taught and used by the Royal Ballet. Too often he thought it hindered the action, none more so than in Giselle. So rehearsals for Giselle became a fertile ground for debate, with Foneyn and Nureyev as the principal protagonists and Ashton as mediator, other members of the staff looking on in fury at their long established production being torn apart by a young upstart Russian. In a way it was a discussion, at times a dispute, between Kirov and Royal Ballet Practice. One extreme issue was Nureyev’s opinion that Albrecht is the principal character, with Giselle in second place.

Nureyev was critical of much of the dancing and disappointed by Fonteyn’s view of the role. Here there was a difference of approach to rehearsal and performance where he was convinced that every performer had to give more than they thought themselves capable of. It was a mental and physical exercise of stretching one’s whole being to a hitherto unimaginable point. Then the performance became real and interesting. It was a matter of hard work, for which he believed there was no substitute. As a late starter, he knew this from direct experience and was clear there were no short cuts to success. Exactitude in the preparation for each step was essential, only then would their true meaning be apparent. February 21st 1962 saw the first performance of Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev in Giselle. It was a triumph and was the beginning of a unique and amazing partnership, one known very quickly the world over and the duo everybody clamoured to see. On the fall of the curtain on this performance so overwhelmed was the audience by the emotional force of what they had been witnessing there was silence before applause erupted, to be followed by 23 curtain calls.

What had been.demonstrated was Rudolf’s ability to draw the audience into the world he was portraying and to share what he was experiencing. This was the beginning of a period of intense activity for the Royal Ballet as it endeavoured to balance the demands of Nureyev for performance and the wellbeing and development of the remaining dancers in need of performing experience, by no means a difficulty confronting the Royal Ballet alone. This persuaded Nureyev to look elsewhere for more openings, not an unrewarding quest in the light of the insatiable demand of companies around the world for his time. One thing I became rapidly aware of in talking to Rudolf was his constant fear of being abducted by the KGB. Anybody in uniform was suspect in his view and to be given a wide berth. He was given a Carnet by the French Government on being granted asylum and was faced with its renewal in 1966, This meant going to Paris and applying personally at the appropriate ministry. Rudolf refused even to think about going and would not accept there was no other way of obtaining renewal, Jn the end he agreed to go if I went with him and never left his side. This we did.

Nureyev continued his plan to reform the 19th century ballets normally in a company’s repertoire and was next in a position to tackle Swan Lake. Here he was troubled by the amount of mime. He also thought Siegfried’s role would be enhanced by a contemplative solo for him in Act1. This was effective but later illustrated the risk of holding up the action unnecessarily if not danced by a dancer of strong personality and dramatic sense. He also turned to the revival of other ballets of that period. His first proposal to Sir Frederick Ashton was Bayadere. This was rejected on the grounds that this was unlikely to be a work with strong public appeal. However, they did settle on Act 4, ‘The Kingdom of the Shades’, giving the corps de ballet a showcase as well as a group of soloists in demanding roles. Nureyev had questioned Fonteyn’s suitability for the leading role, but she defied him and rose to every challenge. The first night was a triumph for the company, Fonteyn and Nureyev. He was in his element and found himself the most closely integrated with the company he was ever to be, coaching the girls with flair and imagination to their advantage.

It was the boys who were most disturbed by Nureyev’s arrival on the scene in 1962. Some rose to the challenge he presented, others, unable to deal with the problem, were the losers. Another Russian ballet suggested for revival was Raymonda, an idea which found no favour with Frederick Ashton beyond producing Act 3 with its spectacular role for the ballerina. Nureyev, unwilling to accept Ashton’s verdict, persuaded Gian Carlo Menotti to produce it at the Spoleto Festival, with the Royal Ballet Touring Company and Margot Fonteyn. It was not a success for many reasons, not least with Margot Fonteyn having to fly urgently to Panama to be with her husband on whom there had been an assassination attempt. Then Beni Montresor had been engaged by the Festival to design the ballet, apparently without reference to anybody else. Nureyev was dismayed by what he saw on arrival in Italy. Doreen Wells took Fonteyn’s place and danced well, but neither she nor a company hardly up to the task could save the day.

In working on full-length ballets a much more fruitful experience was Nutcracker, a version of which Rudolf had been engaged to produce for the Royal Swedish Ballet. This would be repeated in London shortly afterwards, with new sets and costumes by Nicholas Georgiadis in the place of those used in Sweden by Mongiardino. Frederick Ashton was unimpressed by the latter and insisted on change.if it was to come to London. Nutcracker is a flawed work and Rudolf was successful in creating a more cohesive and appealing whole by change and insertion of additional material. Antoinette Sibley and Anthony Dowell led the cast and were deemed ideal by the critics. At the same time Dame Ninette de Valois declared this to be the best Nutcracker London had ever seen. Nureyev was constantly on the look out for new works, fresh challenges, and one-act ballets were being inspired by him. Choreographers included Roland Petit, Rudi van Dantzig, Frederick Ashton. By the 1970s Nureyev had in place many openings for performances. The Royal Ballet had indicated that there was no more space without prejudicing other dancers’ development. A firm stand had to be taken.

By then some of the downside of his presence was becoming too damaging. There were forces at work in him which were divisive as often as they were beneficial. The demand for performances failed to recognise anybody else’s needs and was there largely to satisfy his cry that the stage was his home. It was, but there had to be space for others. Nureyev was an asset to the Royal Ballet and unquestionably his contribution to its growth was of supreme importance, not least in relation to work ethic and the quest for perfection. Second best had no place in his vocabulary. Because of what he could bring to a company, and without underestimating the difficulties, I thought it right we should try to persuade him to become the next Director of the Royal Ballet in succession to Norman Morrice., who had expressed a wish to stand down. We talked at length, but my stipulation that the contract would restrict his performances with the company was more than he could tolerate. I had seen what was happening elsewhere and realised that all the good he would bring to us could be undone by his insatiable demands for performance. Rudolf’s death in 1993 came far too soon, and we lost in him one of the truly great dancers of all time.

He was a performer, giving of his utmost, emotionally charged, expressive and committed. General Director, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden 1970-1988 Revealed: secrets of Nureyev's defection | The Independent Revealed: secrets of Nureyev's defection Sunday 1 November 1998 00:02 BST Click to follow The Independent Online SECRET KGB documents have revealed that Rudolf Nureyev did not plan his defection to the West, but took advantage of a squabble between Kirov ballet leaders and Soviet security agents to flee. The papers, which have been locked away in Communist Party archives until now, contradict the belief that Nureyev had planned his escape when he defected at Le Bourget airport in Paris, 37 years ago. They show that the Kirov's artistic directors and the Soviet embassy in Paris ignored two KGB orders to send the dancer back to Moscow 13 days before his defection. These details emerge in a new biography of Nureyev by Diane Solway. She uncovered the recently declassified Soviet archives - which have now been closed again to the public - that form the basis for her book.

She also reveals for the first time that the dancer, who died from Aids in 1993, was smuggled to safety by a French border control chief who was a White Russian hostile to the Soviet regime. Nureyev was one of the first major cultural figures to flee the USSR. His escape was seen as a premeditated act by a man opposed to the Soviet system. But Ms Solway spoke to more than 200 people close to the star who said he had been planning to return to the USSR at the end of the tour. However, the KGB, angered by his defiance of curfews, wanted to send him home early in the tour. The Kirov ballet and the Soviet embassy regarded the KGB as philistines for wanting to send him home when he was making such an impact on audiences, and they refused to comply. The dancer was told he was to return to Moscow as he waited at the airport to fly to London, where he was to perform with the ballet company. He was so upset at the prospect that he panicked and threatened suicide.

The flight to Moscow was two hours later than the London flight, which gave him time to appeal to friends and to Gregory Alexinsky, the head of French border patrol. Ms Solway tracked down Alexinsky to a Paris nursing home and discovered that he had personal motives for helping Nureyev. He was a White Russian whose father had been imprisoned for criticising Lenin. He helped smuggle Nureyev through a back door to French police headquarters, where he was granted a refugee visa. In an interview with the Independent on Sunday last week, Ms Solway said it was the Soviet government that turned Nureyev into a symbol of political and personal freedom, because of its incompetence. "Nureyev wasn't interested or motivated by politics. His defection was ... propelled by his instinctive need to be able to dance," she said. In defecting, Nureyev knew that it was unlikely he would ever see his family again. Ms Solway said this loss had a huge impact on the dancer, who became desperate towards the end of his life to belong to a family and to have his own children - despite the fact that he was a homosexual.

He tried to persuade a close friend, Charles Jude, to allow him to father a child with Jude's wife through a bizarre fantasy of mixing the sperm of the two men together. He also proposed that he adopted Jude, his wife and children and that they would all live together in a chateau bought by Nureyev. "He seemed to have this wonderful and lavish life but the price he paid for freedom was not being allowed to see his mother until she was dying. The KGB punished him until the end," said Ms Solway. 'Nureyev: His Life' by Diane Solway is published on 9 November by Weidenfeld and Nicolson, price pounds 20 More about:

Question: From which ballet company did Rudolph Nuryev defect to the west?
Answer: KIROV